Canada Rail Volume Report: Crossborder October 2023

RailState, the rail industry’s only provider of real-time rail network visibility, independently tracks all freight rail movements across Canada in real-time. 

This report covers carload movements across the border into the United States.  

Southbound

Southbound rail volume into the United States increased in October after two months of flat volume. Total carload volume grew 5.8% in October. CN’s southbound volume dipped 2.5% while CPKC had a large increase of 18.1%. 

The market share split between the two railroads moved in CPKC’s favor, with CPKC moving 44% of carloads across the border into the United States, compared to 39% in the prior month.

Northbound

Northbound volume also increased in October, with most of the increase also coming from CPKC. Total northbound carload volume grew 9.2%, with CN showing a small increase of 2.7% and CPKC growing 19.6%. 

September was the seventh consecutive month of northbound volumes outpacing southbound volumes. There was a net difference of 14,333 more carloads moving northbound into Canada in September.